


Will You Be My Plus One?

by hookedonmccutie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 19:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14960561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hookedonmccutie/pseuds/hookedonmccutie
Summary: Thanks for reading my new fic! I hope you enjoy. Also, please bear with me with the writing. I'm not the next great novelist and I don't do well with description, and I care way more about dialogue. But please let me know what you think I love your comments!





	Will You Be My Plus One?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my new fic! I hope you enjoy. Also, please bear with me with the writing. I'm not the next great novelist and I don't do well with description, and I care way more about dialogue. But please let me know what you think I love your comments!

Emma squealed as she took the few envelopes out of her mailbox and saw the letter with her name and address written in gold calligraphy. She quickly used her key to open the envelope and pull out the cream color cardstock after she let the rest of her mail remain forgotten in her individual box. Emma knew this was coming for months but having the invitation in her hands made it more exciting and real. 

You Are Cordially Invited   
to the Wedding of  
Miss Mary Margaret Blanchard   
And  
Mister David Nolan  
On   
Saturday the 7th of July 2018  
At 2pm

Emma has known both Mary Margaret and David since they were in elementary school together, which was almost fifteen years. As a shy new student in the sixth grade, Emma was quickly befriended by the sweet and smiley Mary Margaret, and David befriended them both when he defended Emma from the ridicule she received from his bully of a twin brother. He got a bloody nose and two new friends that day. 

Emma wasn’t surprised when in junior year in high school her two best friends realized, or better yet, admitted the feelings they had for each other. Though the three of them were inseparable, it was impossible not to see the connection Mary Margaret and David shared, almost like they were soulmates. Though they never made Emma feel like a third wheel. David felt like a brother to her, and she was happy that her two best friends found love in each other. 

Which brings her back to today, and the invitation she held in her hand. Emma knew about the wedding for a while, and she was the one to help David pick out the ring, and she was the first-person Mary Margaret called when she got engaged. It wasn’t even a week into their engagement when Mary Margaret asked Emma to be her maid of honor, to which Emma happily accepted. 

But finally getting her invitation in the mail made it all seem very real for her friends, and it was only two months until she got to watch her best friend walk down the aisle in the beautiful snow-white gown they’ve had picked out for months. 

Emma smiled once more before reaching into the envelope to take out the other small paper that came with the invitation, the one that asked for an R.S.V.P. and whether the guest was bringing a plus one. Emma thought about this, and she knew exactly who she wanted to ask: her only other best friend in the whole world. 

~~~

Emma jumped up from her spot on the couch where she was browsing through the Netflix options when there was a knock on the door. She walked over to her door and swung it open to see her best friend Killian hiding behind the large order of Chinese she made him pickup on his way to her apartment. 

“One order of all the Chinese you can eat, love.” He said as she moved to the side to let him in. 

“Perfect.” Emma said, going to help him get the food situated on her coffee table after she shut the door. He sat right in his usual spot on the couch and began taking the cartons that were his and placing those that were Emma’s in front of her usual spot. Emma went to the kitchen to grab extra napkins and cups for the soda before coming back to join him. “It’s not a weekly Friday movie night without Chinese.”

“We have pizza sometimes, love.” Killian said as he began to pour the drinks. Emma sat carefully onto the couch next to him as to not make him spill the soda and crossed her legs under her as she opened her chopstick package. “That’s only when you choose the meal.”

“Which you only let me do every so often,” Killian retorted with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well when you want to host movie night, we can eat all the pizza you want.” Emma said. Killian sad back and gave her narrowed glance. He admired the way she dressed in her comfy short and long-sleeved t-shirt, with her hair in a ponytail and her glasses on, completely comfortable for movie night. He was still dressed in what he wore to work: tight blue jeans, a button up top and his signature leather jacket. It was not as comfortable an outfit for sitting around and watching Netflix. “That’s not fair, Swan. Your television is bigger than mine.”

“Not my problem, Jones.” Emma smirked as she said it and reached for the remote and handed it to him. “But, since you so nicely picked up the food, you can pick the movie tonight.”

Killian decided on the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie that was added onto Netflix a few months ago. He usually always picked something of that franchise, or some type of comedy, while Emma was a sucker for either Disney or superhero films. The two gabbed during the entirety of the movie, mostly Emma rolling her eyes over the way Killian talked about how pirates might not have been like this during that time. 

It was about nine at night when the movie ended, and the two figured there was time to watch a few episodes of Friends, which Emma has been getting Killian into for the last few weeks. They were in fourth season, and they were watching the episode with all of the wedding dresses when Emma quickly paused the show, remembering that she had a favor to ask of Killian. 

“What’s the matter, Swan?” Killian asked, confused when she paused the tv, and watched as she turned in her spot to face him. 

“I actually had a question to ask you. What are you doing July 7th?” she asked, biting her lip.

“That’s two months away, I’m not quite sure.”

“Perfect,” she said as she moved closer to him and took his hand in both of hers. “Will you, Killian Jones, be my plus one to Mary Margaret and David’s wedding?” She grinned nervously as she asked and tilted her head as she tried to convince him with her puppy dog eyes. Killian smirked as he watched the way Emma scrutinized him for the answer. He knew her best friends were getting married, it was something she talked about all the time for the last six months. She was the maid of honor for the best friend she had since middle school. 

He was her best friend too, but he was in a different circle of friends. He met Emma at Boston University, when they were placed in the same orientation group. They both made many friends in college, but they were the only two to keep in touch. She was also special to him because she was the first friend he made after moving to the states from Ireland, and he conveniently got a job in her hometown in Maine. He tells himself he didn’t want to lose the closest friend he had in America. He would never admit to any other reasons to follow her home. 

“Please,” Emma snapped him out of his thoughts as he pulled tighter on his hand. “I might’ve told Mary Margaret not to send you an invitation because you’d be my plus one anyway, and I’ll be really embarrassed if you don’t come.”

“You sure you want to take me, Swan?” Killian asked. 

“Duh,” she said. “You’re my best friend. And I want you to help me celebrate my other best friends’ happiness.” 

“I think I can make myself available, love.” He said with a smirk. Emma squealed as she reached across the couch to hug him. He hugged her back and couldn’t help but take in the vanilla scent of her hair. “Thank you! Thank you!”

“We’re gonna have so much fun, Killian. I promise.” She said as she turned herself back to the television and pressed play on the remote. 

“I’m sure we will, Swan.” He believed it too. There was never really a dull moment with Emma, and he had to admit that he was looking forward to seeing her in her bridesmaid’s dress. 

~~~

“Is there a reason you waited until a week before the wedding to tell me you didn’t have a suit?” Emma said as soon as she walked into the men’s formal clothing shop. Killian was sitting on the comfortable bench in the front of the store when she stormed in. He texted her a few hours ago to ask what he should wear which led to her yelling at him to meet her in the shop. “It honestly slipped my mind, Swan.”

“You’re lucky I love you and that I have an hour break for lunch.” Emma walked passed him and tossed her bag on the bench and went to the rack of coats along the wall. Killian’s heart nearly dropped when she said she loves him before he remembered she only meant it as a friend. It was something she said often to him, but every time it got his head spinning with hope. Again, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. 

“You don’t need a tux, because you’re not in the wedding party, so that’s good. Hopefully we can find something here that we can rent without alterations.” Emma said as she scanned through the rack. “tell me again why you don’t already own a suit.”

“Do I look the type, love?” Killian asked jokingly as he stood beside her and helped her look. She shot him a glare as she continued to push through the coats. She was wearing blue, and since they would obviously take at least some pictures together, he needed to match. 

“Ooh!” Emma took a dark gray coat off the rack and held the hanger up against Killian’s chest, practically pushing him back. “This would look perfect on you. You’re a 38 regular, right?”

“Gray, Swan? Really?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Don’t you think I would look more fetching in black?” he said and motioned to all the black coats hanging up. Emma shrugged as she pulled the gray coat back towards here and gave it a once over. “I don’t know. You always wear black. It would be nice to see you in something else, something that would compliment your eyes so much better.”

“What about my eyes, Swan?” Killian smirked at her. 

“Oh, come one, you know how blue they are. And this gray would go great.” Emma said before she sighed and began to put the coat back. “But if you want to wear black-”

“I suppose,” he said as he took the coat from her hands, “I could give it a try. For you.” 

Emma smiled wide at him before she turned to look at ties, and he felt good to make her smile like that. He didn’t have any idea of what she felt about him. Emma was never scared to say what she thought of him, never got embarrassed over comments towards him or his looks, like the one she just made about his eyes. She was so comfortable around him that he could never tell if she could be harboring any feelings more than friendship, but the closer he got to this wedding, the more he wished she would. 

~~~

Though he was Emma’s plus one to the wedding, because she was in the wedding party, he would be sitting alone during the ceremony. He arrived at the church in the gray suit Emma picked out, with his hair combed neatly and his scruff nice and trimmed. Although Emma mentioned before that she preferred him scruffier, he felt he should make him self just a bit more presentable for such an important event. 

After he took the program from the ushers, he walked into the church to find a seat. He realized then that he wasn’t so much here for the bride or the groom as he was for Emma. And she was close to both, so he wasn’t sure where to sit. He decided to choose a seat close to the aisle on the groom’s side, so that he’d have a nice view of Emma both when she is processing and when she is by the altar. 

She felt weird sitting alone, but Emma has spent the night at Mary Margaret’s home with her, and he hadn’t seen her yet today. Instead, he had just been texting her back and forth, keeping her updated on his arrival and asking her about her morning. She answered quickly for most of the morning but the closer they got to the ceremony, he knew she wouldn’t be able to talk, so he looked forward to seeing her later at the reception. 

Eventually, the cantor asked all the guests take their seats for the procession and the organist began playing the music. David walked up the aisle with his best man Graham at his side and the rest of the wedding party came down the aisle to the front, and he watched intently like the rest of the guests. 

His breathe caught in his throat when it was Emma’s turn to walk down the aisle. She was a stunning vision in the long, powder blue dress she wore. Her long blonde hair was curled beautifully and pinned back on one side, and she carried a small bouquet of snowbells in her hands. She smiled the entire way down the aisle, obviously ecstatic about her friend’s big day. As she passed Killian, he noticed she smiled wider and gave him a small wave before continued the rest of the way. 

When everyone stood up and turned to the back of the church, Killian stood up as well, but instead kept himself turned to the side and his eyes stayed on Emma. She was happy, and he swore he saw a tear fall down her cheek. This was something he loved about Emma, how happy she could be for other people. Most would get jealous of moments like these, and wish it was them getting married. He knows that what eh felt in this moment. But Emma stayed selfless and loving for her friends. 

When she took her eyes off Mary Margaret and looked at Killian, she squinted at him and pointed towards the back of the church. Killian got the hint that he should be looking to Mary Margaret and not Emma, and he rolled his eyes before he complied to Emma’s command. During the ceremony, though, while all eyes where eon the loving couple, his gaze stayed on Emma, and she didn’t seem to notice. 

~~~

Though he had to sit alone during the ceremony, the wedding party were sat among the guests at the reception as the newlywed couple sat at a table just in front of the dancefloor. So, Killian was able to spend most of the night spending time with Emma. He got to see her for the first time that day after the ceremony when she met him outside the church. She ran to give him a big hug and to tell him how handsome he looked in the new suit, and he couldn’t help but tell her how beautiful she looked in her bridesmaid’s gown. 

She spent the cocktail hour before the reception introducing Killian to anyone he didn’t know, some old classmates from high school, the teachers at the school where Mary Margaret taught, some of whom happened to have taught her as well. Even though he’s lived in Storybrooke for almost four years, he mainly spent his time with Emma, at his job, or enjoying some of his hobbies, like sailing rented sailboats in the harbor. In fact, most of his friends outside of Emma came from the group of men and women who own boats in town. 

During the reception, they sat together and with Emma’s mother at dinner, and he was glad to be able to spend so much time with her. He knew her mother well too, having been to many and thanksgiving dinners barbeques. Ingrid took Killian in as one of her own when he moved to Maine alone. The only other family he had was his brother, who was still living in Ireland. Killian had every intention of moving back home before he became so close to Emma. 

“Are you going to eat that?” Emma asked pointing at the untouched half of a slice of wedding cake in front of Killian. She already had her fork digging into the dessert before Killian could push his plate towards her. He smiled as she finished off the cake and giggled when she got some frosting on the corner of her mouth, which she clearly didn’t notice because she was so invested in the cake. 

“What?” she asked when he laughed more and motioned to his lip. 

“You’ve got a bit of frosting there, Swan,” he said. He picked up the cloth napkin in front of him and reached to dab the spot with the icing for her. Emma grinned and thanked him before taking another bite of his leftover cake, and he watched as she continued to enjoy it. When she let out a small moan at the next bite, Killian had to cough as he readjusted himself in his seat. 

“Are you ready to dance, lo-” Killian started before he was cut off by the voice of David’s best man, Graham. Killian liked Graham, he was a good guy and a great sheriff, but he couldn’t help but get the tiniest big angry whenever he approached Emma. Killian knew he had no hold on Emma, but he knew she and Graham were close, as she was his deputy, and it made him nervous that maybe things might one day become more for them, and that made him more jealous than he could ever imagine. “Emma! David told me to get you. The wedding party are supposed to dance alongside the bride and groom, and the maid of honor and best man have to dance together.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” Emma said to Graham, before she turned back to Killian. She was prepared to accept Killian’s offer before she was reminded by Graham that Mary Margaret wanted the wedding party to share a dance after the meal. And although Killian was her date for the night, she wasn’t about to go against the brides wished on her big day. She placed her hand on Killian’s knee before she spoke. “I’ll be back, and then you’ll get a turn, yeah?”

“Aye, love. I’ll be here.” Killian watched as Emma rose from her seat and took Graham’s hand as he led her to the dance floor. Graham pulled her close, with one hand on her lower back and the other holding hers, but they were far enough apart from each other that Killian could see they had room to look at and speak to each other as they danced. His heart broke a little when he saw her laugh at something Graham had said and turned back to the table to take a sip of his drink. 

“Sad its not you up there?” Ingrid asked which caused Killian to look to her before he shook his head unconvincingly. 

“No worries. I’ll get my chance soon. It’d be a shame for Emma to not dance with her plus one. It is why I’m here right, as a dance partner? I don’t want to miss the opportunity to let her step on my toes.” Killian quipped as he looked back to Emma. He didn’t see the way Ingrid eyed him when he rambled. 

“Emma looks beautiful tonight, don’t you think?” Ingrid asked and wasn’t surprised when Killian’s answer came right away. 

“Absolutely breathtaking.” He said, his eyes stuck on Emma as she danced. Ingrid smirked and took a sip of her drink before she tried to draw his attention away from her daughter. “Killian?”

“Aye?” he asked when he turned back to Ingrid. 

“What are your intentions with my daughter?” she asked. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Do you have feelings for Emma?” Ingrid asked as she stared at Killian. 

“I…she’s my best friend.” He stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. “I care for her a lot, and she cares for me too, I think. But I don’t…I mean…I couldn’t…she’s my best friend.”

“It’s okay if you do. I wont bite your head off.” Ingrid responded. “Emma is a remarkable young woman.”

“Aye,” Killian sighed, running his tongue nervously along his lips. “That she is.” Killian sat watching his hands fiddle on the table, embarrassed that he let Emma’s mother see right through him. Ingrid was right, of course. He did have feelings for Emma, ones that until now he believed he was good at hiding. It made him nervous. If Ingrid could pick up on his feelings than surely Emma did too, and since she never said anything, it made him feel even more hopeless. If Emma said nothing, it would mean she didn’t feel the same way, and that thought made his heart break. 

“I’m going to get another drink. Could I get you anything?” Ingrid just shook her head in response and smiled sadly as she watched Killian leave the table. A few minutes of music went by before she saw her daughter begin to return to the table. “Emma, sweetie, you need to talk to that date of yours.”

“Who? Killian?” Emma asked. “Yeah, I came back hoping to get him for a dance. Where did he go?”

“To get a drink. He seemed distraught.” Ingrid said as he daughter sat down. 

“What, why? It’s a wedding. Is he okay?” Emma asked, concerned. 

“Sure, he’s just got a bit of a jealous heart, right now. Watching you and the sheriff dance seemed to be hard on him.”

“Why would he be jealous of Graham?” 

“Oh, come on, Emma.” Ingrid said, finding her daughters cluelessness to be unbelievable. “You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed that Killian is head over heels in love with you.”

Emma hesitated to respond and sat up straight in her seat. “What? How do you…? Did he tell you that?” she asked nervously. Was Killian really in love with her? 

“He didn’t have to, Emma.” Completely blindsided by her mother’s words, Emma found herself able to come up with her own. How was she to respond to that? Killian, her best friend, her plus one, was in love with her, apparently. Why did he never tell her? How did she not know? 

“Honey? Are you okay?” Ingrid asked, and Emma’s head snapped up to meet her mother’s gaze. 

“Yeah, of course. I’m just taking this in. I mean…are you sure? What do I even say, what do I do?” she asked her mother. Ingrid pulled her chair closer and held Emma’s hand in hers. 

“I think first, you have to decide how you feel about him.” Ingrid said, and it was the one thing Emma hadn’t thought of: her feelings. She didn’t do feelings, at least not romantic ones. 

“Do you love Killian?”

Did she? She wasn’t sure. Emma had never been in love. She had boyfriends, and friends with benefits, but she never became close enough to someone to say that she loved them. She didn’t let herself think that way about the people she was close to. She never imagined she’d be like Mary Margaret and David and find true love in a best friend. She thought their relationship was one in a million, something impossible to find. Sure, she had a crush on Killian in college, and something had to be said for the way they remained so close and comfortable over the past years. But she didn’t expect feelings from him, so she shut down those thoughts in college, so she wouldn’t lose him. 

And now he did have feelings, or so her mother tells her. Emma just kept thinking of the weekly movie nights and how easily they could turn into movie dates, with them cuddled on the couch instead sitting a cushion apart. Or how her stealing his French fries when she visits him for lunch at work could become her stealing a kiss on his break. God, kissing him was something she could see herself doing, and it was something she wanted to do, amongst so many other things she hasn’t allowed herself to do or say or think for eight years when it came to Killian. 

“I need to find him.”

~~~

“Hey there, sailor.” Emma said when she found Killian. He was standing outside on the front porch of the venue, leaning against the railing with his drink and looking out to the water. The porch was bedazzled with stringed lights that complimented the nigh sky, and when Killian rose at the sound of her voice he couldn’t help but notice the way the lights made her hair glow even more. “The bartender said I’d find you out here. You ran before I could get a dance in.”

“I know, Swan. I’m sorry.” Killian said. He placed his drink down on the wooden railing and approached her. “It just got a bit…suffocating in there.”

“Because of your conversation with my mom?” Emma asked, and Killian closed his eyes and sighed at her question. 

“You talked to your mother.” Emma nodded with a sad smile and saw the way he retreated in embarrassment and worry. “And I suppose she told you…that I may have feelings for you. I assume.”

“Sort of,” Emma said as she bit her lip. “She told me you…were in love with me.” 

“Bloody hell,” Killian cursed and ran his hand over his face and into his hair. This was not how he planned to tell Emma of his feelings. He wasn’t planning on telling her at all. He was going to let his feelings go away, or at least he hoped they would. He turned back to her hesitantly and she stood a few feet from him near the railing, her hands clasped together in front of her. “I’m so sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to put you in such a…tricky position. And our friendship…god.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” she said as she approached him. She watched as he stood up straight in front of her, his eyes shined with a combination of fear and hope. Emma’s voice shook a bit as she spoke. “I don’t want to be your best friend anymore.”

“Emma, please.” He begged, pleaded with her as he reached for her hand. “Please, don’t push me away because of this. I can over get over my feelings. I just…I can’t lose you. I need you in my life. I need you to be my friend.”

“That’s the thing.” Emma said as she squeezed his hand tighter and noticed his eyes were close to forming tears, and she almost shed some of her own. “I don’t need you to be my best friend.”

Killian let out a loud and terrible sigh, one filled with sorrow and regret and he used his other hand to wipe the small tears that fell down his cheek. Emma felt wetness on her cheeks as well, at hoped that this moment would be worth ruining her makeup. 

“I need you to be more.” Killian raised his head to look at her again, confusion painting his face. “What?”

“I need you, to be my best friend and my confidant and my movie night buddy. But I also need you to be the guy who takes me on dates and brings me flowers. I need you to be the one I wake up with and the one who holds my hand in public. I need…” she paused, laughing at both herself and the look of awe he was giving her as she spoke. 

“I need you to kiss me when I ask you because honestly that is all I can think of right now and I need you to be my plus one to literally every wedding from here on out.” She rambled and kept her eyes off Killian afraid to see what his expression was like. She found that she couldn’t stop herself from talking now that she was getting everything out in the open.

“I just…when I talked to my mom I freaked out but then all of the feelings I had for you in college that I didn’t let myself feel came rushing back and then suddenly I was so happy that you were in love with me…because I think I love you too and-”

She managed to stop when she felt his hand on her cheek and his face inching closer. She realized once she stopped talking what she had said, and when she saw Killian’s face she knew that he didn’t mind. She laughed with a smile and bit her lip when she asked, “Does that all sound okay to you?”

“It sounds perfect.” Killian responded, and Emma decided his face was too close for her to not kiss him right then. She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips gently to his. His lips were soft, and once she got her bearings she deepened the kiss, and she wrapped her free arm around his neck. 

As much as Killian didn’t want to let go of the hand he held, he knew he needed her closer, so they let go of each other’s hand and Killian’s arms wrapped around her waist. Killian couldn’t stop kissing her and he didn’t plan to stop. He took the opportunity to hold her tighter and lift her off the ground, and Emma let her feet dangle in the air. 

“Thank you.” Emma said when they pulled apart and he placed her down, and she kept her forehead against his. “For what?” 

“For coming with me tonight. It turned out to be a lot more eventful than I imagined.” Killian laughed as he hugged her again, also thankful that he came with her tonight.   
“And I was serious about being a plus one from now on, mister. And when your brother eventually gets married I better be across the pond there with you.” Emma said, and Killian smiled and nodded his head at her terms. 

“It sounds good to me, love.”


End file.
